Everything You Need To Get Through The First Year Of Motherhood

If you are expecting your very first baby, you are probably feeling a strange mixture of excitement and nerves. You will be super excited about bringing your own child into the world and all the years ahead of you that you can spend as a family. However, you might also be slightly nervous about the prospect of becoming a parent. After all, it will be like nothing you have ever done before. Not many people like venturing into the unknown! Plus, some people doubt their abilities and think that they may fail as a parent. However, there really is no need to be worried about failing your child and being a bad parent. That’s a fear that many people have and they are surprised to find just how well they take to it once the baby arrives. Lots of people take to it like a duck to water!

Of course, having said that, having a baby won’t exactly be a walk in the park. It will be a very steep learning curve, one that comes with hardly any sleep. You will be busy and exhausted most of the time, sure, but that doesn’t mean you won’t also enjoy this new chapter in your life. Not only that, though, but you will be filled with a huge amount of love for your child!

You are going to need a lot of help on your new journey as a parent. Some of this help will come from practical items and tools while other forms of help will come from your friends and relatives. Not sure exactly what you need as a new parent? Here is everything that will help you get through that very first year of motherhood.

Once you get home from having the baby, you will need plenty of rest and relaxation. After all, your body will have just gone through one of the most traumatic processes that it will ever have to endure, so you should make sure that you and the baby can spend some peaceful time at home. However, this period of recuperation should, ideally, last for the entire first year of your baby’s life. You will be undergoing some big bodily changes as your body adapts to no longer being pregnant again. For instance, your doctor will probably tell you to do regular pelvic-floor exercises so that your pelvic muscles recover effectively. With all of this in mind, do not rush back to work in the first year of motherhood if you can help it. Your time will be much better spent by relaxing and getting to know your new baby!

You and your baby won’t be able to do this alone! You will also need a loving and supportive partner to help you out as well. They will be able to comfort and support you when times get tough and they will also be there to take over the reigns when you need some quiet time to yourself. They will also come in very handy when you feel like you could do with a relaxing foot rub too! Don’t worry if the baby’s father isn’t in the picture anymore. There are some other people who might be able to step into his place. I’m sure that your parents will be very active in their new roles as grandparents. You might also have a very close friend who is willing to help you every step of the way in bringing up your new baby. Whether your supportive partner is your baby’s father, a grandparent, or a very close friend, they will almost certainly be a key part of your child’s upbringing.

When you have a baby, you will realize that you really can never have too many clothes for them! They are always getting messy so you might need to change their outfit one or two times a day. Plus, they grow like crazy! You will find that your baby starts to grow so much that they might not be able to fit into a babygrow that they were able to only a couple of days ago. So, as you can probably tell, you need a lot of clothes in your newborn’s wardrobes so that you can keep up with their growth! Take a look at sites like www.makaboo.com that offer personalized clothes and bibs. Sure, you can’t fill your baby’s wardrobe entirely in personalized clothes, but a couple of bespoke pieces are a really nice touch! It’s also a good idea to stock up with plenty of baby blankets. These will keep your little one warm and snug, and they can also act as an emergency wipe if your little one ever pukes in an inconvenient place!

You and your partner will deserve some time to yourselves every now and then. You certainly deserve it once you are parents! So that you don’t need to take your little one with you, and so that you can then enjoy the peace and quiet, it’s a good idea to find a reliable babysitter. Many towns and cities have babysitting agencies, such as www.tinies.com, that can hook you up with a great nanny or babysitter in your neighborhood. If you want to keep your costs down to a minimum, though, you might want to see if any of your friends or family are available for babysitting duties. I’m sure that some people will gladly look after your little one in exchange for all the cuddles with the baby they can get! Don’t ever feel bad about asking anyone if they are around to babysit, after all, we all deserve a night out every now and then!

Once you become a mother, you won’t get much time to focus on the housework. That also includes time spent in the kitchen. You will probably find that cooking from scratch becomes a huge chore, and going out the grocery store is an even bigger hassle, especially when you have a baby in tow! So, whenever you get the chance, you should stock up your kitchen as much as possible so that you don’t have to go out shopping too often. Thankfully, most grocery stores now offer their customers the chance to order shopping online and get it delivered to their home. That will save you a lot of time as a new mom! You will also benefit from batch cooking. This just means you cook a meal that you can portion up easily. These portions can be frozen. You then have a freezer full of delicious meals to defrost and reheat whenever you need them. Even though you will find it hard to find the time to cook, batch cooking is a super thing for new moms as it means you don’t need to rely so much on unhealthy ready meals and takeouts.

Feeling stressed with motherhood? Don’t panic, that is a completely normal feeling and reaction to your situation. One way around this is to treat yourself to some you time. There are various things you can enjoy while you are having some time alone while the baby is with your partner or a babysitter. For instance, you might to head to your favorite coffee shop for a latte and big slice of cake. Why not go to the cinema to check out one of the latest Hollywood blockbusters? If you really do need some quality R&R, you could treat yourself to an afternoon in a nearby spa hotel.

Once you have given birth, you will find that your hormones will be all over the shop. In fact, they might seem a little out of control! This will result in huge mood swings, some bloating, and bouts of tiredness. Unfortunately, it also means that you will find your skin suffers a lot more from pimples, red patches, and blemishes. It might get so bad you might think that you’ve been sent back to your teenage years! So, it’s a good idea to get into a good skin-care routine. Buying some top-quality skin-care products will certainly help, such as the ones from Glossier. Once you find products that suit your skin, you should notice that the terrible side effects of crazy hormones will be a lot less visible.

Babies need a solid routine from day one. This will help them learn to nap and sleep at the right time, and it will also help you preempt when they will be hungry. A good routine helps to bring some much-needed stability into your life. This will help you just as much as the baby, and you will find that following a routine eases your transition into full-time motherhood.

As you can see then, there isn’t any reason to panic too much about becoming a new mom. All you need is a little help and support every now and then from the ones you love!